Burying the Lede

A PV-Tech article highlighting a decision by SunPower to sell their stake in yieldco 8point3 Energy added a quick note in the final paragraph on what may be another domino falling in residential solar financing. It seems in addition to the yieldco sale, SunPower is also looking to sell its portfolio of residential solar leases. It’s unclear if this signals the end of SunPower’s financing program entirely, but with the aim of returning to profitability by next year, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the company jettison the capital intensive product to return to its core solar manufacturing business. With scuttlebutt of troubles for Spruce Financial remaining solvent, OneRoof Energy closing its doors, and the recent bankruptcy of Sungevity, an exit by SunPower would further shrink residential third-party owned solar financing down to four: Tesla, Sunrun, Sunnova, and Vivint Solar.